


Until My Darkness Goes

by madamebow



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 02:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30099003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamebow/pseuds/madamebow
Summary: When a hospital room visit reveals the path that lies ahead.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Until My Darkness Goes

**Author's Note:**

> So I just watched the latest Flash episode (7x03) and the entire sequence of the sparks Iris and Barry had shared during the years was all about love and the Speed Force and whatnot...... eh. Well, it got me all ~inspired~ to put an Olivarry twist on it, because Olivarry's my Arrowverse OTP. (Also yes, I suck at punctuation, adding it to my learn-more-about list.)
> 
> So this is betaed by myself but written in the span of the past few hours and I figured might as well post it as well because this pairing needs more fresh fics, am I right?
> 
> (Yes, the title is from Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones. Currently obsessed with a cover of it, oops.)

Every part of him was practically screaming at what a bad idea this was.

It went against all he had learned those past five years, the guidelines he had set up for himself. His rules. Don’t be spotted like this, don’t let people figure out who you really are, don’t have people figuring it out any personal connections to use against you.

But when Felicity hadn’t heard from Barry and then figured out he was in a coma after the particle accelerator explosion something had shifted inside him, like a rusty cog that had been jammed and suddenly hopped back into place, going into overdrive. It was something he could vaguely recognize from the life he had had before, something he had always run away from.

Now he was running towards it and all for someone he considered too pure for this world, someone who shouldn’t have stumbled into his to begin with, lest risk being tainted and corrupted.

Landing softly on the floor of the hospital room, he took a second to confirm what he had already scouted beforehand; he knew the nurses and doctors’ schedules for checking in on Barry and indeed they were nowhere near his room that moment.

What struck him first was how still he was. The Barry he had met hadn’t been still - seeming to always be moving even when he wasn’t – carrying this restlessness within him. Paired with the innate light that emanated from him he had been a sheer force when entering their lives that day at Queen Consolidated, even if Oliver hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself at the time. He had told himself he was just a boy, innocent and naive, hadn’t really seen the world for what it really is: cruel, unforgiving and harsh.

This is what the world really was – it took away the people that could light it up. Put them in a coma where they were hidden away and dimmed.

Oliver stepped closer, taking in how calmly Barry was breathing. Felicity had hacked into his journal, he’d read all about how the doctors were struggling to figure out what was wrong with him. His heart kept stopping, always seconds from declaring him dead just to have him seemingly come back to life.

There wasn’t any of that now, there was only an eerie sense of calm. Almost too calm.

Again, he wondered to himself why he had made the trip, told Felicity and Diggle some flimsy lie, grabbing his Arrow gear and taken off on his bike, barely stopping on the way.

Maybe it was to really confirm to himself that it had happened, that his view of the world really was true. No matter how kind you were – like the type of kind that made you a mask despite trying to choke you to death only a day before – that the world would simply to try to snuff it out either way.

Or maybe it was something akin to a moth to a flame; that Barry carried something so insanely bright inside of him that he hadn’t seen in anyone for the longest time, or maybe even ever, and he just couldn’t believe how something like it could exist. And how he couldn’t believe how it made him feel.

Carefully, he took off one of his gloves, stowing it away before letting his fingers hover over Barry’s resting hand. If anyone was watching they wouldn’t have noticed, but Oliver’s breath hitched only just the slightest as he wavered, taking in the sight of Barry yet again.

Suddenly shaking his own head, he finally decided this was ridiculous. What the hell was he doing there? He had only known Barry for mere days, they weren’t even friends. Was he even concerned, or was he just indulging some selfish need? Yes, that’s all it was: selfish. A distraction from his work back home.

The second he had decided to draw back his hand however there was a bright blue spark, bouncing off the skin of both their hands before fading away.

Oliver flinched, gasping loudly. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been caught so off guard, not been in complete control of a situation. He stumbled back, staring at his hand then back at Barry who was just as still as before. The moment was over as soon at it had happened, the eerie calm settling over the room again yet he couldn’t relax, couldn’t stop his heart from racing.

Mentally he cursed himself when his body began to calm down again- it was just static electricity. That’s all it was.

Oliver whipped his head to the side when there was a noise – chatter in the corridor outside and footsteps. Seemed hospital staff were doing their rounds early.

The moment the door opened and a nurse stepped in, all they could see was Barry in his bed looking the same as he had mere hours before and an open window, the curtain billowing gently in the breeze.


End file.
